Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Trucker Dies After Lumber Falls From Forklift - Friday, March 21, 2008
The survivors of a truck driver, Michael Ryckman, who died after he was crushed by a load of plywood at a Connecticut pier in 2003, have received a $1.35 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit. The tragedy occurred when Ryckman was picking up a load of plywood for a Washington state trucking company in January 2003. He was to retrieve the load at Logistec's New London, CT facility and deliver it to New Jersey.The internal scale on Ryckman's truck indicated the load exceeded the maximum allowable weight by 7,500 pounds. Logistec management disputed the weight but had no scale of their own to weigh the load. Ryckman then drove to a moving company in Waterford that certified that the weight was 7,500 over the allowed weight. Ryckman then drove his truck back to Logistec and told them to unload the extra weight.
Ryckman family attorney, Robert Reardon, Jr., said that it was 4:00 on a Friday and everyone at Logistec's was anxious to finish their day, so an employee grabbed the nearest forklift, which was much too small for the job, and it caused the accident.
Logistec employee Scott Barlow, ordered to remove some of the plywood bundles, lifted two of the bundles with the small forklift and began to back away from the truck. He attempted to lower the two bundles, and the rear of the forklift lifted off the ground, causing the plywood to slide forward. When the rear of the forklift slammed back down, the bundles fell off the forklift's prongs into Ryckman. Ryckman was alive at the scene but later died at a hospital from cardiac pulmonary arrest and blunt trauma to the chest and abdomen.
Fireworks Fun but Dangerous Part of Celebrations - Thursday, March 20, 2008
Though fireworks are exciting and fun to watch, they can also be very dangerous, especially in the hands of untrained users or children. In 2006, approximately 10,800 people were treated in emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries, and 60% of those injuries took place in the in the days surrounding the July 4th holiday.In a four-week period in 2006 (June 18 to July 18), firecrackers, sparklers and bottle rockets accounted for most of those injuries seen in emergency rooms in the United States, and about 45% of those injuries were in children age 14 or younger. Males were injured more than twice as often as females. Also in 2006, four people died as a result of fireworks-related injuries, and 5% of the injuries seen in ER's required hospitalization. Bottle rockets often fly into the user's face, sparkler's can ignite clothing, and firecrackers can injure one's hands or face if they explode at close range. Not surprisingly, people actively participating in fireworks-related activities are more frequently injured and sustain more severe injuries than people just watching a fireworks display.
Fireworks-related injuries most often involve hands and fingers, eyes and the head and face. More than half of all reported fireworks injuries are burns, and burns are the most common injury to all body parts except the eyes. In the eyes, contusions, foreign bodies, and lacerations occur most frequently. These injures are often caused by user error, but many times, defective fireworks cause serious injuries, also.
Despite federal regulations and varying state prohibitions, many different types of fireworks are accessible to the public. Many fireworks distributors set up shop right at state borders, where residents of states with strict fireworks regulations can take advantage of more lenient state laws. Under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission prohibits the sale of most dangerous types of fireworks and the stuff used to make them. However, despite these efforts, fireworks are acquired by inexperienced and young users, and serious accidents do happen.
Here are some suggestions to prevent fireworks-related injuries:
Be aware that all fireworks are dangerous and do not use them unless you have been trained to use them.
Attend only authorized public fireworks displays conducted by licensed operators.
Support legislation that bans the sale and usage of fireworks by children.
Fireworks can be a fun activity for the whole family if they are used properly by trained professionals. Keep your family safe this holiday week by enjoying fireworks displays at community events hosted by licensed operators.
Parents Sue After Son's Penis is Amputated by Mistake - Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The family of an infant boy whose penis was severed during a circumcision filed a lawsuit in July 2007 claiming a doctor and the hospital were negligent. The Chicago lawsuit alleges that due to negligence, Dr. Sherif Malek severed the entire glans, commonly called the "head" of the penis during a routine circumcision the day after his birth on February 14, 2007.At the completion of the procedure, hospital records indicated that significant bleeding occurred, and upon inspection, nearly all of the glans had been amputated at the time of the circumcision. Three months later, the little boy required penile skin transfer surgery and will need future procedures, some of which are only appropriate at the time of puberty.
According to an expert witness from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the clamp used in the procedure cannot amputate a male infant's glans when it is used properly and the injury to the infant was completely preventable.
Medical malpractice caps in Illinois will prevent the boy from recovering more than $500,000 against the physician, and the hospital's liability is capped at $1 million.
Widow of Accident Victim Sues Navy - Monday, March 17, 2008
The widow of a Virginia man was awarded $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit settlement involving the United States Navy and Eddie's Bus Service. Peter Williams was killed in 2004 after a bus leased by the Navy struck his car at a traffic light in Newport News, VA. The 41-year-old engineer was on his way home from work.Williams was stopped at a traffic light in September 2004 when the bus, driven by an enlisted sailor, turned left and struck his Grand Am. The bus rolled onto the front of the car and crush the roof pinning Williams and killing him.
The bus had no power steering fluid.
The settlement documents state that the federal government must pay $2 million and Eddie's Bus Service must pay $1 million to the man's widow. The law firm that represented the Williams will receive $844,077 for legal services.
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